Getting help for Caius felt so urgent that I took my pale grey horse from the stable to ride to Juventas' Villa as quickly as I possibly could.
He had seemed OK a few days ago but now it seemed like his life was slipping away and every passing moment was a grain of sand slipping through an hourglass that was close to running out of time.
As the horse sped through the Roman countryside my heartbeat matched the thundering of its hooves and my stomach churned at the thought I might actually lose Caius because of my own stubbornness and inability to forgive him without feeling as if I had won a fight.
The landscape was a blur and I was making my way to the Villa through instinct more than anything else, but I was sure Juventas was the only person who could possibly help, and that she would
